For all not native Japanese speakers!

[jorge10]

Originally Posted by andylaurel

I here in Japan with near immersion circumstances.
Living with GF (until last week), speaking just Japanese.
Colleagues all speak to me in Japanese.
It's the best possible circumstances to learn Japanese.
Don't rely on this daily conversation to help you pass exams though, I just took the JLPT level 2 exam on Sunday, and although the listening section was easy, the reading was very hard for me. The kind of words that come up in articles just don't come up in daily conversation. Don't limit yourself to conversation only.

Ok. Thanks for advice.

[hatsuto11]

Originally Posted by jorge10

Thanks for the advice good sir!I will take your advice into consideration. About guidance, I'll figure something out.

After learning the alphabets and move on to Kanji, how do I look up kanji in the dictionary? If I stumble on a sign how will I be able to be able to identify what the word means?

I don't think that looking up a kanji would be a problem for you if you studied kanji properly!
I cannot specify a way which you can use in order to be able to find any kanji, since that depends on the system your dictionary uses. If it uses the traditional system_looking'em by their radicals_ then you should first memorize the radical of every single character or at least be able to realize it in the character itself even if it is the first time you encounter it. But i think that if you want to serve more time, you should try the kodansha kanji learner's dictionary or other dictionaries that use the SKIP method to look up a kanji. That method actually can halp you in most of the cases to break down your kanji by its roots and combinations. Even someone who doesn't know japanese may have the potential to distinguish the different parts forming a single kanji through the spaces between'em. Your last choice may be your PC! The internet is actually full of resources to help you knowing any specific detail regarding any chinese character you want! I can reccomend you to use a website called tangorin, yamasa kanji learner's dictionary and much more websites (if you wish to know the rest, go to the page with the topic "kanji" in wikipedia and take a look at the external links). If you face any difficulty to type a specific kanji into your computer, you may draw it in Words and then copy and paste it, but make sure to memorize first the stroke order of the basic radicals. Finally, if you don't succeed to find a specific kanji, PM me and I will look it up for you the moment I receive your message

[minamo9]

heyhey ^^. since im doing an education to bodygaurd japanese is not one of my subjects at school, but i do study in the library now and then.

ive been to leiden a few times, im from groningen myself.

[jorge10]

Originally Posted by hatsuto11

I don't think that looking up a kanji would be a problem for you if you studied kanji properly!
I cannot specify a way which you can use in order to be able to find any kanji, since that depends on the system your dictionary uses. If it uses the traditional system_looking'em by their radicals_ then you should first memorize the radical of every single character or at least be able to realize it in the character itself even if it is the first time you encounter it. But i think that if you want to serve more time, you should try the kodansha kanji learner's dictionary or other dictionaries that use the SKIP method to look up a kanji. That method actually can halp you in most of the cases to break down your kanji by its roots and combinations. Even someone who doesn't know japanese may have the potential to distinguish the different parts forming a single kanji through the spaces between'em. Your last choice may be your PC! The internet is actually full of resources to help you knowing any specific detail regarding any chinese character you want! I can reccomend you to use a website called tangorin, yamasa kanji learner's dictionary and much more websites (if you wish to know the rest, go to the page with the topic "kanji" in wikipedia and take a look at the external links). If you face any difficulty to type a specific kanji into your computer, you may draw it in Words and then copy and paste it, but make sure to memorize first the stroke order of the basic radicals. Finally, if you don't succeed to find a specific kanji, PM me and I will look it up for you the moment I receive your message

Thank you very much for your advice! I was planning on buying two kodansha dictionaries as soon as I have the money for them. They are called, "Kodansha's communicative english japanese dictionary" and "Kodansha's furigana japanese dictionary." I will go to a bookstore and look for the dictionary you recommended and check it out. At the moment, it looks like I'll use kanjisite.com to learn some Kanji. They put kanji in sections by the JLPT level, which I like. Once again, thanks for the help.

[Adriana]

*sigh* Let's see... I've been studying for about 6-7 years, I'm self-taught, so it was a little easier for me to go my own pace. But nobody knows or even has the slightest interest in Japanese where I'm from, so when I try to practice speaking Japanese, I get some hostile treatment...

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by Adriana

*sigh* Let's see... I've been studying for about 6-7 years, I'm self-taught, so it was a little easier for me to go my own pace. But nobody knows or even has the slightest interest in Japanese where I'm from, so when I try to practice speaking Japanese, I get some hostile treatment...

Hey! We don't take kindly to yer "Japanese studying" types here, so why don' you jest git ouuuut?!

[Manske]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

Hey! We don't take kindly to yer "Japanese studying" types here, so why don' you jest git ouuuut?!

Now calm down KyleGoetz, they ain't hurtin' nobody.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by Manske

Now calm down KyleGoetz, they ain't hurtin' nobody.

AHAHAHAHAH

Or, really, since we're on a Japanese forum:

wwwwwwwwww